This invention relates to circulating food display systems used in eating houses and continually circulating and exhibiting food to be served to customers.
Recently, some of the restaurants that specialize in "sushi" a representative Japanese food, have come to be equipped with endless conveyor with a locus such as crescent chain that continuously moves around, making a loop. A counter is attached along the endless conveyor. A chef who stands by the conveyor, prepares and places various kinds of "sushi" on a plate. Then, he puts the plate on the conveyor. The customers on the other side pick up the plate on the endless conveyor according to their taste, place the plate on the counter and eat "sushi" from it.
From the viewpoint of the customer, this eliminates the trouble of ordering because all he has to do is to pick up a plate. On the side of the restauranteur, he can cut down the process of carrying the food to the customer after receiving the order. Also he can let the chef concentrate on food preparation so that one chef can handle a greater number of customers than the conventional way. Therefore, he may not have to employ any waiter or waitress and as he can reduce the number of chefs, he could manage more efficiently and serve the food at a lower cost.
Some of the restaurants have a food display case, facing the outside. This case is used not only to exhibit the menu to the passers-by so that they could see the quality of the food, compared to other eateries, but also to exhibit for take-out orders.
If the food exhibited in the case is uncooked food such as raw fish, it must be replaced at regular intervals every day to avoid discoloration or spoilage by exposure. Conventionally, such replacement of food is performed manually, and is a troublesome job. Further, the food exhibited in the case loses its freshness with the lapse of time. Accordingly, such food will not only fail to stimulate the appetite of passers-by outside the shop, but give them a false impression that the very food exhibited in the case is to be actually served inside the shop, thereby possibly impairing the credit of the shop.
In order to eliminate the trouble of replacement, in some cases, e.g. plastic or wax molds or photographs are exhibited in the case instead of real food. These molds or photographs will not, however, be able to prod the appetite of passers-by outside the shop. Besides, they will possibly arouse suspicion of the passers-by about the difference between them and real food actually served inside the shop.